


Post-Mission High

by noconceptoflife



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Blackwatch Era, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Rated For Violence, Venice Incident (Overwatch)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 15:26:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15709986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noconceptoflife/pseuds/noconceptoflife
Summary: Genji clings to Jesse’s side and he wants so badly to melt in Jesse’s arms and enjoy being alive in the post-mission high. Not even a minute after almost dying in Venice, and he wants to celebrate the fact he’s still breathing.





	Post-Mission High

**Author's Note:**

> General warnings that I didn't want to fill the tags with: blood, knives, discussion of Genji's trauma and touch starvation. Big thanks to my beta Isa!

The thing about going into battle is Genji has a few modes.

Stealth mode is for when he needs to kill quietly. He cuts quick, dims the lights on his robotic parts, and takes his time. He never botches stealth missions. The first part of the Venice missions is just that, stealth. He kills before his targets even know he’s there. They die before they hit the ground. He’s clean, free of blood save for his blade that glistens but gets cleaned when he yanks one of the grunts’ arm pieces off and rips out the cloth inside. It's useless since he gets bloody a moment later, but he thinks he's done at first.

Battle mode is when he doesn’t have to worry about being caught. They’re already caught, and Genji watches when Reyes kills a man point-blank and the whole city lights up like flipping a light switch. As far as he's concerned, the man has had it coming and Reyes is only in the wrong from a point of legality. Jesse’s anger washes over Genji, a trickle of water compared to an ocean of information and calculation he processes to survive. He would lie if he said he wasn’t enjoying every moment in the fight to get to where their dropship is coming. He kills a sniper, loads stars into some sucker with a shotgun, and slashes the throat of an assassin who tries to hack Moira into pieces.

Reckless battle mode kicks into gear in the final showdown. Reyes goes down once, but Moira revives him. As that happens, Jesse and Genji give everything they have into killing the huge machine that is determined to destroy them. After that, he has Moira on him as he unleashes himself and lets himself be hurt. Bullets, blades, energy blasts, it’s fine because she's behind him. It's what makes him reckless, having support. It gives Angela headaches but Moira doesn't complain. Moira leeches the vitality from them and gives it back to him. She is also throwing yellow spheres that come pre-loaded with her miracle mixture when she runs low. He does not hesitate. He does not slow down. He does not hesitate. He does not show mercy. Moira does not complain, he suspects because she’s too busy listening to Jesse and Reyes go back and forth. He’s been ignoring that for now, because though Jesse might be his boyfriend he’s too deep in bloodlust to pay attention.

Panic mode kicks in almost too late. The ship comes down at an inopportune time. Genji is across the area, cutting a sniper down while Moira hovers behind him and takes out more of the little guys. He almost doesn’t hear the thing come down with the blood roaring in his ears. Then he hears Jesse scream for him, and he turns and sees the two of them already on the ship. His heart freezes for a second. Moira is already off, sprinting across the bridge with a yellow orb leading the way as she braves the spray of bullets. Genji can’t hesitate. He wants to finish off the sniper, but that’s seconds he can’t afford. He takes off.

He almost doesn’t make it. Moira is only five strides ahead of him, but her healing can’t reach him. At the last moment she fizzes out, launching herself into the carrier. She turns around and waits a moment.

“DUCK!” He hears Jesse scream, and he does. The bullet whizzing by his head misses him by a hair. The bullet hits Reyes in the leg, and he goes down on one knee. Ten strides to the helicarrier. He activates the advanced mechanism in his legs and dashes forward. Four strides. There’s two heavies behind him, a sniper, and a handful of grunts. The door is closing.

What saves him almost kills him. He feels something brush his back, and then hears the minute  _ click  _ of a trigger. Then he’s launched forward from a point-blank energy shotgun blast to his shoulder blade. His stomach catches on the edge of the closing door, and he gets lifted up. It was his upper chest, he’s sure his shoulder is destroyed, but he’s half inside. He feels one set of hands grab his synthetic arm and another set of hands grab his human arm. The desperate pull makes him scream as his damaged shoulder gets yanked on. But then he’s over the edge of the door and gravity takes over.

 

He’s glad for the mask, because he slides forward with most of his weight on his face. Then his face and upper torso are on the ground with the bottom half of his body against the wall as the door swings shut all the way. He's then in a ninety degree angle facing down with his legs in the air. He wheezes, voice full of static. Had he not just been one second away from being with the spirits he figures it would make a comical scene.

The next twenty seconds is when everyone catches their breath. The world feels fuzzy and muted to Genji, and his pain feels more manageable.

But of course it’s because of Moira, After a moment passes she gathers up more energy and lets loose one of her spheres. It fizzles out in a matter of seconds to heal them, but then she has enough of her essence to hose Reyes down with enough left over for Genji. Her stuff is different from Angela’s. With Angela it always feels like her tech is making his wounds rewind until it’s the way it’s supposed to be. With Moira it feels like her miracle mixture settles over him and then congeals where it’s needed to fill in the gaps. Whatever doesn't fill in the gaps stimulates rapid healing of anything that needs fixing.

Thirty seconds in and things feel almost okay. Genji rolls over and scoots forward, pushing his feet against the wall until he’s flat on his back. Moira bends over to look him over, and then she sprays more focused on his shoulder. “No scarring.” She said. “But get a lot of sleep when we get back.” She instructs and steps over him to tend to Reyes.

Genji takes his time sitting up and feels jitters. He staggers up to his feet, feeling the jitters travel from his stomach to his limbs until every part of him feels warm and numb with pure relief. He’s alive. He’s alive! They’re all alive!

Jesse speaks and Genji jumps to attention, his eyes zeroed in on his boyfriend. ‘You son of a bitch!” Jesse snaps at Reyes.

Oh, Jesse is so breathtaking when he’s angry. It’s a rare sight. Usually, he’s gruff at worst, and always so sweet. Now he’s fuming. Genji feels the warmth of relief turn into a hot flash of something more familiar.

The words Jesse says are static to Genji’s ears at this point. Genji is lucky to be alive, and he’s in the same room as his boyfriend. He leans against the wall and scrambles at the edge of his head gear as Jesse stands his ground and goes on a tirade. Reyes looks just as angry and impatient, and he’s snapping something back that only makes Jesse worse. It might as well be Greek with all that Genji’s paying attention.

His fingers finally find the catch on his mask and he rips it off and throws it to the ground. Jesse glances at him, but then it’s back to Reyes. Moira doesn’t even look up. Next his fingers catch on the headgear, and he tugs that off as well. It leaves his head bare and his face totally open, a sight that he knows Reyes hasn’t even seen before. Then Genji snags a water bottle from one of the compartments built into the carrier. There’s also food and first aid kits, but Genji is more focused on taking a long drink so he won’t dehydrate in the hour it’ll take them to get back.

Jesse is still going on about whatever when Genji finishes half the bottle. He sets it down, not caring about where it ends up, because his eyes are locked on his cowboy. He doesn’t stumble over, but he does let himself lean against Jesse’s arm. “Jesse.” Genji says, insistent.

“What?” Jesse barks and turns his glare to him.

Genji isn’t having that. He slings an arm around Jesse’s neck and yanks him down to messily press his mouth to Jesse’s. He’s grinning too big to kiss properly, so instead he nuzzles his face to Jesse’s neck. “I love you.” Genji says.

Jesse starts and his pause is enough for Genji to press their mouths together again. This time he’s better, less giddy, and he sighs through his nose. He’s alive. Jesse’s alive. He can feel Jesse’s hesitation, so he winds his arms around Jesse’s neck and slides his hands up to go for his hair. In the process he's knocking his hat off so it falls to the floor. Now Genji can ground himself in the greasy strands of Jesse’s post-mission hair.

It makes Jesse pause for a second and if Genji’s head were totally clear he would know why. It’s because he also has different modes regarding affection. There are three.

There’s the first mode that he’s thankfully been in less and less. It usually happens after an upgrade or when something messes with his body. It makes him feel like his body isn’t his own. He doesn’t even want to be looked at during the transitional period where he waits to go from feeling terrible to his normal kind of feeling bad. For the first year or so in blackwatch that was his mode the whole time, as upgrades were daily and any touch felt like cold acid. Now it’s not as common, only lasting a day or so after a weekly check-up and upgrade. People know better than to try and touch him in those bad moments.

The second mode is his normal mode. That’s when he can stand holding hands with Jesse, touching knees with Angela while they drink coffee together, or a pat on the shoulder from Reyes. He can be affectionate with Jesse in private, sharing kisses or sleeping together in a way he can enjoy. Anything more than a kiss to his mask or an arm around the waist is too much. It's good that he's blessed with people who care about him and his comfort. Jesse respects it and Lena is gentle when she jumps to give him hugs when they hang out.

The third mode is the one he’s in now. It’s when his nerves light on fire and he feels a deep need that’s primal and animal enough that he can ignore his inhumanity. It’s not a sex thing, it’s about touch and the simple pleasing sensation of skin on skin. The first year of Blackwatch when this washed over him he would clench his teeth into his sheets and cry. He would be feeling like he was freezing to death and missing what he used to have. In those times he wouldn’t leave his room until it passed and would wrap himself up in blankets and curl around a large pillow. It was a shallow mimic of what he wanted.

Touch starvation is hard to cope with after a lifetime of counting on always being able to count on a warm and happy body to press himself against. Be it his father when he is young and scared of nightmares, Hanzo when he is too old for dad but not too old to ask for a hug, or lovers once Hanzo’s love fizzles out. Familial, platonic, romantic, it doesn’t matter.

The difference now being that he has Jesse. Jesse knows that Genji’s tolerance for affection wavers from time to time, so he’s respectful and waits for when Genji to make the first move. When he’s not sure he lays his hand palm-up wherever they are and waits for Genji to lace their fingers together. When he wants to cuddle he’ll lean back and give Genji a significant look until Genji crawls over to join him. He leans down when he wants a kiss and waits for Genji to lean up to meet him. He’s a good man, the exact kind of man Genji needs, and sometimes it hurts how much Genji loves him sometimes.

It’s rare for Genji to initiate. Sometimes when Genji gets like this it isn’t ideal, like in the break room early in the morning when he wrapped himself around Jesse like an octopus. Jesse gladly carried him around for a few hours, to Genji's relief and everyone else's amusement. What can he say? Jesse’s a bleeding-heart romantic. What’s more romantic than a portable boyfriend? Most of the time it’s late at night. Like the first time Genji woke Jesse up in the middle of the night crawling into his bed to cling to him only a week after their first kiss. Those nights happen once a month, when Genji wants to crawl out of his skin and into something warm and human. Jesse enjoys it, and Genji needs it, so it’s not a problem.

Now is one of those rare times where he’s the one who’s waiting. Genji clings to Jesse’s side and he wants so badly to melt in Jesse’s arms and enjoy being alive in the post-mission High. Not even a minute after almost dying in Venice, and he wants to celebrate the fact he’s still breathing. He can almost see the wheels turning in Jesse’s head. Make out with Genji for an hour, or yell at Reyes some more?

He makes his choice and shoots Reyes one more nasty glare before wrapping his arms around Genji’s waist and leaning down. Genji follows when Jesse walks back until the back of Jesse’s knees hit the edge of the bench. He sits down and Genji puts a knee out to rest between his thighs on the bench so he can lean over Jesse and press himself against the man as much as possible. He isn’t even thinking about the kissing, only about the warmth of Jesse’s skin and the rush of cheating death.

Moira rolls her eyes at their antics and offers Gabriel a hand. As far as Moira is concerned, today is a success and she will treat it as such. Perhaps not a success for Gabriel or McCree or Genji, but for her? Nothing will change for her. She’s a faithful soldier following orders, after all. Gabriel will catch all the heat and Moira is fine.

Reyes takes her hand and she hauls him up. “How’s the leg?” She asks.

“Better.” He says. “The bullet came out, but it still aches.”

“That’s the thing about the biotic grasp. It heals, but the body remembers.” She says. “I’m sure once you Fade and come back together it will be fine.”

“Does it work like that for you?” Gabriel asks. A breathless sound from the other side of the carrier makes the both of them glance over, and then quickly look away. The two agents are thankfully keeping it PG, but neither of them care to see their two youngest Blackwatch agents necking.

“Sometimes.” Moira says and backs up so she can settle on a bench as well.

Reyes starts to talk, but then she scoots over, moving so she’s as far as possible from the other two agents who are very into each other’s mouths at the moment. She reaches into one of her pouches and pulls out a square of glass with two earpieces attached. Moira unattaches the ear pieces and puts them in, before she folds her legs under herself and fishes through another pouch to get a jar of nail polish.

“You brought a music player and nail polish to a mission?” Gabriel can’t quantify how exasperated he is.

Moira taps her ear and smiles, before she gets to work on repairing where the nail polish chipped. What’s even the point? Gabriel knows they’re fake nails. He gets the feeling she’s doing it to ignore him and make him suffer the sounds of Jesse and Genji’s mouths and the muffled sound of the Queen she’s listening to.

At least Jesse won’t be yelling at him for the rest of the ride back. And who knows, maybe his lips will be too chapped to yell at him by the time they get back.

 


End file.
